Congratulations on your
Monday column, "How to Slap Iraq?" It is the only decent piece of journalism
I've seen since this latest Iraqi crisis began. Because Saddam has been
"permanently demonized in the West," as you put it, there is little room for
rational analysis, to determine whether in this instance Saddam is in the
right, or in the wrong. In my own reading of what has been going on, it does
not appear that Saddam is doing anything he shouldn't be doing as head of the
Iraqi state. Every "ordinary citizen" I've discussed this with over the
weekend was gung-ho for action against Saddam, until I advised them that
the Kurdish faction in control of this piece of sovereign Iraqi territory had
specifically asked Saddam to intervene. The vast majority of Americans
have learned about these events on 30-second radio and tv news accounts. It is
a "political no-brainer," as you say, for President Clinton to act tough and
drop bombs, goaded by Bob Dole who is also shooting from the hip. This is the
kind of brainless policymaking that led to Waco, which should have taught
Clinton something about the unintended consequences of the ill-considered use
of force. Waco led directly to Oklahoma City. Where will the senseless bombing
of Iraqi targets lead? The only person I would trust to advise me on this
matter, if I were President, is Colin Powell. Why don't you ask him what he
thinks?

PS: I will say that Sen. John Warner and Rep. Lee Hamilton did
comport themselves with some prudence of policy and rhetoric on the Sunday
talk shows. If you missed their interviews, you might locate the
transcripts.